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Series 4 price increase

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canyonblue737

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 10, 2005
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Well it looks like prices have bumped from Series 3 which sorta surprised me, if only because I thought Apple had figured out the price points that really sell these things over the last few years.

S3 2017 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $329
S4 2018 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $399

S3 2017 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $399
S4 2018 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $499

S3 2017 SS: starts at $599
S4 2018 SS: starts at $699

So basically everything is up $70-100 with most up $100. In the most popular model that means a price increase of 25% which really is a large increase. I appreciate that the S4 has a better screen and the ECG but every year has had enhancements in processors, screen brightness, waterproofing, cellular etc. The S3 is still for sale and knocked down $50 in price which helps.

I just can't help feeling that Apple asking for yet another $100 is a mistake and perhaps I just feel that way because I'm a SBSS buyer who already feels foolish for replacing a $650 watch after 9 months with a $750 watch but so it goes. Thoughts?
 
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canyonblue737 said:
Well it looks like prices have bumped from Series 3 which sorta surprised me, if only because I thought Apple had figured out the price points that really sell these things over the last few years.

S3 2017 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $329
S4 2018 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $399

S3 2017 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $399
S4 2018 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $499

S3 2017 SS: starts at $599
S4 2018 SS: starts at $699

So basically everything is up $70-100 with most up $100. In the most popular model that means a price increase of 25% which really is a large increase. I appreciate that the S4 has a better screen and the ECG but every year has had enhancements in processors, screen brightness, waterproofing, cellular etc. The S3 is still for sale and knocked down $50 in price which helps.

I just can't help feeling that Apple asking for yet another $100 is a mistake and perhaps I just feel that way because I'm a SBSS buyer who already feels foolish for replacing a $650 watch after 9 months with a $750 watch but so it goes. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Maybe they need to pay for all the pockets they filled to get the ECG approved. Or maybe it costs more to make.
 
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Not surprising since it has new Health capabilities. The cheapest standalone ECG is already $100 so the new watch price point is on par with that. If you balk at the price then just look at S3 at a new reduced price.
 
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matrix07 said:
Not surprising since it has new Health capabilities. The cheapest standalone ECG is already $100 so the new watch price point is on par with that. If you balk at the price then just look at S3 at a new reduced price.
Click to expand...

I already wear a SBSS S3 so that isn't going to help. ;-)

While I have more money than brains and will be getting a SBSS S4 I just have a worse feeling about it, almost $750 is a bridge too far. I feel like few sites are mentioning the price change and I don't know if it is they have sorta missed that detail in the excitement over the new features or if they don't care and it is just me? I honestly think upping the price to starting at $399-499 for the *basic* S4 is going to suddenly stretch many too far even at X-Mas time. I mean a basic 44mm ALUMINUM cellular model is going to cost $549 which is just $50 less than stainless steel started at last year. The ECG is a great feature IF you live the USA, and IF you are one of the less than 2% of Americans who have occasional Afib. It's one of the those gee whiz features hopefully none of us ever need or use beyond the first couple of tries just to see what it does.
 
canyonblue737 said:
I already wear a SBSS S3 so that isn't going to help. ;-)

While I have more money than brains and will be getting a SBSS S4 I just have a worse feeling about it, almost $750 is a bridge too far. I feel like few sites are mentioning the price change and I don't know if it is they have sorta missed that detail in the excitement over the new features or if they don't care and it is just me? I honestly think upping the price to starting at $399-499 for the *basic* S4 is going to suddenly stretch many too far even at X-Mas time. I mean a basic 44mm ALUMINUM cellular model is going to cost $549 which is just $50 less than stainless steel started at last year. The ECG is a great feature IF you live the USA, and IF you are one of the less than 2% of Americans who have occasional Afib. It's one of the those gee whiz features hopefully none of us ever need or use beyond the first couple of tries just to see what it does.
Click to expand...

Same situation, same watch with the space black. I’ve already sold my S3 though. It’s a solid 150 bucks more this year. Ouch.
 
canyonblue737 said:
I already wear a SBSS S3 so that isn't going to help. ;-)

While I have more money than brains and will be getting a SBSS S4 I just have a worse feeling about it, almost $750 is a bridge too far. I feel like few sites are mentioning the price change and I don't know if it is they have sorta missed that detail in the excitement over the new features or if they don't care and it is just me? I honestly think upping the price to starting at $399-499 for the *basic* S4 is going to suddenly stretch many too far even at X-Mas time. I mean a basic 44mm ALUMINUM cellular model is going to cost $549 which is just $50 less than stainless steel started at last year. The ECG is a great feature IF you live the USA, and IF you are one of the less than 2% of Americans who have occasional Afib. It's one of the those gee whiz features hopefully none of us ever need or use beyond the first couple of tries just to see what it does.
Click to expand...

Well then you’ll get a nice new watch full of super cool watch faces. ;)

ECG is important to me so I will get it day one if my country is on the list. I’m praying at the moment I can buy it.
 
I’m also pretty sure the Apple care pricing for the watches has gone up as well...
 
How quickly do the SS models depreciate on eBay, etc? Seems like previous SS models do a poor job at keeping their value. Paying $750 for the 44mm SS is just crazy.
 
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Unprocessed1 said:
How quickly do the SS models depreciate on eBay, etc? Seems like previous SS models do a poor job at keeping their value. Paying $750 for the 44mm SS is just crazy.
Click to expand...

I'm about to find out at the worst time, when the flood hits Ebay after the 21st lol. I'm thinking at least 50% loss? People who want a premium Apple Watch typically just pay the $$$$ and get it, the folks who can't afford it new I think have a harder time choosing to buy a year old SS for the same price that they could get a new version Apple Watch in an aluminum version, hence a big loss in value. With all the changes this year I'm not sure if I had $400-500 to spend I'd get a used SBSS S3 when I could get a S4 new.

My bill is going to be ugly, my wife and I got SS and SBSS Apple Watches for Christmas and we LOVE them, and now I love the S4. So here comes $1500 in new watches and what will be my Ebay offset? $600-900? Maybe?
 
I'm considering just waiting a few months and buying a lightly used SS Series 4 on eBay. No way I'm paying $750 + tax for it. I currently have a Series 2 SS, and think it might be tough to go back to aluminum. Love the look and feel of the SS.

canyonblue737 said:
I'm about to find out at the worst time, when the flood hits Ebay after the 21st lol. I'm thinking at least 50% loss? People who want a premium Apple Watch typically just pay the $$$$ and get it, the folks who can't afford it new I think have a harder time choosing to buy a year old SS for the same price that they could get a new version Apple Watch in an aluminum version, hence a big loss in value. With all the changes this year I'm not sure if I had $400-500 to spend I'd get a used SBSS S3 when I could get a S4 new.

My bill is going to be ugly, my wife and I got SS and SBSS Apple Watches for Christmas and we LOVE them, and now I love the S4. So here comes $1500 in new watches and what will be my Ebay offset? $600-900? Maybe?
Click to expand...
 
I have an original 42mm Stainless Steel with Sport Band I paid $599 for. Now to replace that with the ‘same’ model in size and finish, a new SS 44mm will be $749. $150 price increase!! Apple usually keeps prices the same and improves features. Not cool.

I don’t want a Nike as much as like the look and the extra watch faces b/c:

1. I like the weight and feel of the SS.

2. My knockoff Link and Milanese bands won’t go well with the Aluminum Sport finish.
 
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I paid $349 for my original 38mm Apple Watch Sport in July, 2015. Within a few months it was easy to find for significantly less.

The new models have bigger displays, better heart monitoring, etc. Of course I’d rather pay less. Heck, I’d like the option to purchase the case only for $50 less since I already own several bands. I’m just glad they didn’t make us buy a more expensive model to get the ECG. That feature might not be a big deal to many, but it offers some peace of mind to those of us with a family history of heart disease.
 
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You are paying for the ECG I assume. Which is ridiculous. This is a feature that most people will have zero use for, yet everyone will pay for it, and Apple marketing will make you thank them for the opportunity.

Apple are treading on thin ice lately with their pricing and lack of delivering on relevant features.
 
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Apple has seen that they can get away with price increases with product redesigns with the iPhone X and iPad Pro lines. Until the market starts to punish them for this behavior, they’ll keep jacking up prices. Apple is a business and they will try to grab as much profit as they can as long as consumers keep showing they’re willing to pay.
 
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sean000 said:
I paid $349 for my original 38mm Apple Watch Sport in July, 2015. Within a few months it was easy to find for significantly less.

The new models have bigger displays, better heart monitoring, etc. Of course I’d rather pay less. Heck, I’d like the option to purchase the case only for $50 less since I already own several bands. I’m just glad they didn’t make us buy a more expensive model to get the ECG. That feature might not be a big deal to many, but it offers some peace of mind to those of us with a family history of heart disease.
Click to expand...

remember that when it comes to the ECG it isn't something that monitors you, the optical HR is still the part doing that. its the optical HR that will detect high, low, and afib. then if you have an afib warning you can use the ECG to measure it precisely to show to a physician. the sad part is that all the older apple watches could do the low and afib warnings too (after all that was what the stanford heart test study was doing, alerting you for afib) but they decided to only put it on the new watch for what you have to assume is marketing reasons. the ECG *will* help some people but it is very, very, very niche for most and will never ever be used except for the first day you own the watch (or i suppose when watchOS 12.1 comes out in fall) to try it.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
Apple has seen that they can get away with price increases with product redesigns with the iPhone X and iPad Pro lines. Until the market starts to punish them for this behavior, they’ll keep jacking up prices. Apple is a business and they will try to grab as much profit as they can as long as consumers keep showing they’re willing to pay.
Click to expand...
exactly this! I was waiting for series 4 to be my first AW but after seeing the pricing decided to pass on it.
 
I’m on a SS Series 2. I was looking to upgrade this time around. Several things were factoring into that. First, within the last year I have seriously gotten into the sport of running and have been disappointed in the lack of depth to the native running apps and the other running apps that are available for the Apple Watch are slow to load on the watch and prone to functionality issues. I’ve started looking at some running specific watches such as Garmin and Suunto.

Second, the price bump is really quite annoying. To be honest, I love my Apple Watch, but apps other than the native apps don’t work that well on it and it just doesn’t offer what running specific watches offer for my needs. The ironic thing about it is that the Apple Watch was one of the primary reasons that I started exercising again which ultimately led to me taking up running again.

I am also currently on the iPhone X and it is an awesome phone. I was planning on getting a new phone and new Apple Watch following today’s event. Now I don’t think I will be doing either.
 
Yup, I’m disappointed this. I was all set to go stainless steel this time (and likely still will), but that $750 price is STEEP! If anything there now is less differentiation between aluminum and SS, because the back is the same material for both.

Maybe Apple is trying to look for ways to keep up the ASP after dropping the Edition?
 
canyonblue737 said:
Well it looks like prices have bumped from Series 3 which sorta surprised me, if only because I thought Apple had figured out the price points that really sell these things over the last few years.

S3 2017 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $329
S4 2018 GPS/Aluminum: starts at $399

S3 2017 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $399
S4 2018 Cellular/Aluminum: starts at $499

S3 2017 SS: starts at $599
S4 2018 SS: starts at $699

So basically everything is up $70-100 with most up $100. In the most popular model that means a price increase of 25% which really is a large increase. I appreciate that the S4 has a better screen and the ECG but every year has had enhancements in processors, screen brightness, waterproofing, cellular etc. The S3 is still for sale and knocked down $50 in price which helps.

I just can't help feeling that Apple asking for yet another $100 is a mistake and perhaps I just feel that way because I'm a SBSS buyer who already feels foolish for replacing a $650 watch after 9 months with a $750 watch but so it goes. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I’m feeling pretty similar. I love the space black and can’t go back to aluminum but holy hell the steel models just plummet in value which sucks so much.

Apple is offering $250 in trade for the series 3 space black 42mm model that’s crazy!
 
sputnikBA said:
Yep, I posted the same thing here and I’m not happy about it
Click to expand...
And it’s also before the proposed tariffs. I wonder if Apple priced in the possibility of a new tariff and is planning on absorbing it for now.
 
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